ADRIAN — The Lenawee Christian boys basketball team on Thursday defeated Madison 47-42 in the opening round of the third annual Siena Heights Holiday Tournament. The Cougars exploded in the fourth quarter, putting up 24 points and stealing a win from the Trojans.

Lenawee Christian (4-1) was held in check by Madison (6-1) for most of the game before they caught fire. The Cougars trailed 32-23 entering the fourth quarter and erased the deficit almost immediately. Bobby Walter ignited the Cougars, hitting four consecutive 3’s to put Lenawee Christian right back in the game.

“I knew that we needed to hit some key shots,” Walter, a senior, said after the game. “We’d been playing poorly during the first three quarters and we needed a spark. Things were looking pretty grim for us. I think my shots were a turning point. We lacked energy early all night and after I hit the shots, we came alive.”

From the beginning of the game, the two teams appeared to be very evenly matched. The Cougars used good ball movement while the Trojans focused on pounding the ball into the posts and using their height advantage. Madison seemed to strike gold early with Zach Mellon. Mellon scored seven of Madison’s 11 points in the first quarter and helped give the Trojans an 11-10 lead after one.

“We wanted to establish our inside game and I felt we did that,” said Madison coach Jeff Webster. “We just have to focus on converting more of our shots in the post. Too many times we came up empty and that cost us the game tonight.”

The Trojans tightened up their defense in the second and began to disrupt the Cougars’ offense. Madison’s up-tempo defensive pressure forced Lenawee Christian into committing multiple turnovers throughout the game. Unfortunately for the Trojans, they never really found an offensive rhythm. Without turning Lenawee Christian turnovers into points, the Trojans allowed Lenawee Christian to linger for much of the game.

For much of the second quarter the shots just weren’t falling for the Cougars. Lenawee Christian star Jalen Porter was 0-for-3 in the quarter from the field and the team looked flat in general. Madison took advantage, going on a 9-2